Born in 1945 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bernard, the son of a Toronto
Commercial artist, was one of four gifted brothers and the twin brother of
the internationally famous wildlife painter Glen Loates.

Brought up on what were the
outskirts of Willowdale, which was still rural in the 1950s, Bernie and his
brother Glen drew close to nature and both developed a passion for the
outdoors and being a student of fine art. Their first major influence was
by the famous Toronto painter Frederick Brigden. Mr. Brigden painted the
pastoral scenes of the Don Valley with its cows and other domestic animals.
The two Loates boys were taught by the aging Mr. Brigden in capturing animal
anatomy on canvas and it directed their course ahead. Both Bernard and Glen
would sketch with prodigious energy on the banks of the Don River and at the
Citys Riverdale Zoo.

Bernard pursued the art of
printmaking and advanced to become the most important printer in Canada. In
the mid 60s Bernie founded Nature Impressions, a wildly successful business
that printed Glens art in limited edition and open edition form. Bernies
business acumen is legendary in the Loates family. Hes got a definite
Midas touch, say Jim Loates, a third brother. In 74, Bernies own
publishing company, Cerebrus Publishing masterminded the production of The
Art of Glen Loates in both trade and limited editions. The trade edition,
co-published with Prentice-Hall had a second printing of 35,000, making it
the best-selling collection of any living Canadian artists work.

As remarkable as the success of the
trade edition was, it was the limited edition of 300 that truly broke
records. With an initial subscriber price of $600 in 75, the resale value
had rocketed to $4,890 before the book even appeared in September of that
year, and in January of 76 a Texan sold a copy of $5,200. Printed on
100-per-cent rag paper and hand-bound in steer hide, each volume came in a
hand-rubbed cherry wood case along with an original Loates lithograph of a
North American bison. When two top publishing houses and film separating
houses turned down the project claiming the quality the Loates brothers
demanded was impossible to attain, Bernie spent four years solving the
technical difficulties on his own. He hired a European colour specialist
and bought his own press. Bernard devised a new method of getting the ink
to sit on the high quality, highly porous paper. The books publication is
nothing short of a landmark in Canadian book publishing. The Loates book
is the finest ever produced in Canada, says Toronto antiquity dealer Jack
Joran.

In the 1980s, Bernard had the opportunity to be Mr. A.J. Cassons
printmaker. Mr. Casson, who was the last living member of the Group of
Seven, would only have Bernard Loates print his images. Some of the finest
prints ever made (both lithographs and serigraphs) were executed by the hand
of Bernie and many of the Casson's prints fetch thousands of dollars today
on the open market.

In the late 80s and early 1990s,
Loates tackled his most challenging and creative project. The John James
Audubon Master edition series of prints are among the finest made prints in
the world and in 1993 Bernard was awarded for his unparalleled achievement
with
the prestigious Gutenberg Award of Excellence.